Sarra Tekola

Titles

PhD Student, Sustainability, School of Sustainability

Biography

Sarra Tekola is currently working on her PhD in Sustainability at Arizona State University. Her undergraduate research was on the physical elements of climate change, where she interned and researched for EPA, NOAA and the Washington State Department of Ecology. She has also worked on the political side of sustainability as a legislative aide for a Seattle City Councilmember. To put the knowledge into application her dissertation works on the social side of climate change focusing on creating the cultural change Western society needs to successfully implement climate solutions. She is investigating the connections between climate change and colonization, and how the colonial trauma Western countries have affects our ability to address climate change today and how decolonization can be a climate solution.

Sarra is also a climate and racial justice activist. She is the cofounder of Women of Color Speak Out, a group that works to help the environmental movement become more accessible to people of color. Her activism has been featured in Democracy Now, CNN, Rolling Stone and was named by Outside Magazine as one of the “30 under 30” in 2016.

Teaching Assistant Experience

SOS 101 - Introduction to Applied Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences (1 semester)